


The Hidden Truth

by lacthryn



Category: St Trinian's (2007 2009)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bad Parenting, Bullying, Dysfunctional Family, Familial Abuse, Gen, Original Character(s), POV Original Character, Sibling Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-11-14
Updated: 2012-11-15
Packaged: 2017-11-18 16:41:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/563171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lacthryn/pseuds/lacthryn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I always thought there had to be more of a reason why Annabelle was sent to St. Trinian's, so i made one! Amelia Fritton is Annabelle's younger, angry, rebellious, musically gifted sister. After the pair are sent by a vindictive and abusive Carnaby to St. Trinian's after being tormented for years at Cheltenham the girls are expecting the worst, the sister's will need to learn to trust and find themselves as only a true St. Trinian girl can.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Expect Turbulance

**Author's Note:**

> First Fic! AU... Mainly Annabelle, Amelia and Kelly POV any other will be noted. Time frame for fic and that of film not canon. Amelia is not a Mary-sue so any hint I might be getting carried away author would appreciate a slap! Or a review please. Any criticism is appreciated and this looks to be a long fic so may take a while to finish. UNBETA'd (line breaks indicated either time skip or change of POV)

It wasn’t unusual for the head girl to be called into the office on the fourth day of term, though it was a little unexpected as Kelly had been in the middle of sorting out the line-up for the following night’s ‘entrepreneur’ meeting with Flash Harry. She’d already had to break up three separate fights between the chavs and the emos, and placate a Russian mafia princess into being a guinea pig for the twin’s latest concoction, in an effort to reassure Flash that the problems with the last batch of Trinski had been sorted.

“You wanted to see me Miss?” Kelly spoke from the doorway,

“Ah Miss Jones, do come in I’ve got some exciting news I just couldn’t wait to share, whiskey?”

Camilla Fritton was the proud matriarch of the school, a St. Trinian herself and proud to say the least of the colourful history the school flaunted for all to see. She currently stood near the small collection of alcoholic drinks with two glasses in hand already prepared; Kelly smiled as she strode into the office and took a seat on a sofa. Camilla wandered over and handed a glass over before taking a seat opposite.

“I’ve just been informed that my little shit of a brother intends to transfer his daughters to this school. Now I’ve never met them personally and frankly I wasn’t even given the younger girls name, but they should be arriving here tomorrow.”

Camilla took a drink from her glass allowing Kelly to process that information, it did sound interesting they hadn’t had a transfer student in a while so two at once was highly unusual.

“Thanks for the tip; I’ll let the girls know to expect them. Are we delivering the standard welcome or do you want us to hold off?”

Kelly took a drink from her own glass appreciating the taste of well-aged whiskey while waiting for Camilla to answer.

“Well that’s the thing; I’m not entirely sure why Carnaby is transferring them after the start of term. Knowing him there has to be a reason as he swore never to allow Annabelle to attend, but I get the feeling there is more going on here then it appears.”

Kelly felt her eyebrows raise in surprise at Camilla’s candid thinking but stayed quiet when she continued.

“I have seen a picture of Annabelle, she was just an infant at the time but I haven’t seen or spoken to Carnaby for fifteen years. The younger girl… well Carnaby’s PA failed to even mention her name so I’m left wondering, what could possibly be the little shits game plan.”

“Where exactly are they transferring from? Should be easy enough for the geeks to get access to their records, you can have everything you need to know by the time they arrive tomorrow.”

Kelly suggested hoping to offer some kind of solution.

“Ah that’s the twist dear girl, my esteemed nieces will be joining us from Cheltenham Ladies I’m afraid.”

Camilla finished her drink off and stood, moving around the office to place the glass on a nearby table.

“You’re joking, the girls are going to eat them alive Miss. I might point out that after last term some of them will literally want to eat them.”

Kelly took another sip of her drink, leaning back casually on the sofa as Camilla paced nearby.

“Quite right, and though I don’t usually interfere in these matters they are my nieces and they do deserve the change to get out from under Carnaby’s thumb. So while I’m not suggesting you stop all character building exercises, I would appreciate it if you could rein the girls in a little and use your judgment.”

Kelly finished off the last of the drink and stood before placing the glass down next Camilla’s, she met the headmistress’ gaze full on and smiled with practised ease.

“Consider it done,”

“Jolly good, let me know what you find if you will girlie.”

Kelly recognised the dismissal for what it was and headed out of the room, her high heels clicking in staccato across the tiled floor. A few minutes later found her in the dorm, heading straight towards the geek nerve centre and Polly the ring master giving orders to her subordinates.

“I take it you heard then?”

Kelly lent casually against a nearby support and Polly made her way over.

“I’ve already got girls hacking into Cheltenham’s files, I’m just about to run a search algorithm myself, shouldn’t take too long for me to start getting results.”

Kelly nodded in agreement, her smiling in thanks before speaking again.

“Looks like there is finally going to be a Fritton in St. Trinian’s”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~****/****\\****~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The rest of the afternoon had Kelly busy; a group of first years had managed to commandeer the C4 supply and after a tense hand over half a block of the explosive was missing. The crying and accusations had Kelly ready to pull her hair out, but she managed to maintain her calm and commanding persona. Organising the second years into teams took little effort and the reward for the safe return of the high explosive was high enough to actually get the girls looking.

Kelly wasn’t too worried, but the twins were ready to string up the culprit and already had plans to use those responsible as a piñata. After that minor incident, the posh totty’s came in crying over a laundry mix-up that had damaged some of their clothing, Kelly rolled her eyes so often at the over dramatics she’d given herself a minor headache. Walking into the dorm room to find two hysterically crying geeks and Polly on the warpath left her yearning for a stiff drink.

“What on earth is going on?”

Polly looked up from the pile of smoking remains, what once had been a laptop sat in scattered pieces over a work table. The frazzled redhead had soot streaking over her brow and was pushing her glasses up her nose in a sure sign of agitation.

“We ran into a little problem,”

“If you call this little Polly I think I’ll have to start questioning your sanity,”

Kelly gestured to the destruction and sobbing fifth and sixth year who were being rocked back and forth in a combined effort between Chelsea and Andrea that the leaders of the posh totty’s and the emos had been drawn in to affect damage control was worrying enough. That both leaders had done so without complaints was a sign of how serious the crisis had been.

“Yes well, no one was injured, the school hasn’t been set on fire, and the twins don’t have their hands on any explosives. The only casualties were Jennifer and Patricia’s laptops so overall only a relatively small problem.”

Kelly wandered over towards the table Polly was still sitting at, she perched herself on the edge her expression neutral as Polly pushed the remains of one laptop away.

“So, what was your minor problem then?”

“I set Jennifer and Patricia to hacking into Cheltenham’s registry, looking for the records you were after. Everything was going completely fine until they tried accessing the Fritton’s records, they did manage to get vital statistics but the second they attempted to break through from the academic to the medical records they must have triggered some sort of attack. I’ve never seen anything like it Kelly, the girls laptops just seemed to lose control; thousands of popups and spam windows blasted them from all sides. We tried yanking the wireless cards, but the attack was already self-sustaining, Jennifer even pulled the power but all that did was start a chain reaction in her hard drive. Patricia’s keyboard started melting from the power surge and then this…”

Polly motioned towards to still slightly smouldering pile of melted plastic and cracked twisted motherboards.

“Are you saying your girls were beaten by Cheltenham security? That seems unlikely Polly,”

Kelly asked, hiding her sense of unease. It hadn’t been the first time the geeks had hacked Cheltenham; this should have been little more than a cake walk for the experienced geeks.

“That’s just it; the attack while centred on the Cheltenham’s records didn’t actually originate from there. I managed to track the hack remotely, but all I was able to get was a small trigger imbedded in their database. The attack was activated by the trigger but the attack itself came from numerous virtual instances, as though it triggered a command code hidden all over the net to assemble and launch the attack simultaneously from multiple locations.”

Kelly felt her eye brow rise in surprise, Polly while still agitated and frustrated was almost radiating her approval of this attack. It must be some kind of geek reaction at being impressed by a superior opponent.

“You almost sound proud there Polly, should I be worried?”

Kelly smirked as the affronted look on the head geeks face as the girl got up and started moving around, grabbing her own laptop and placing it down on the table before retaking her seat.

“I’m furious actually, livid even but you are right I’m also very impressed. The kind of skill needed to encode something like this; I didn’t think anyone could do that Kelly… well not anyone else. It doesn’t just take skill it takes imagination, creativity and a ruthlessness that honestly leaves me feeling a little in awe.”

Polly’s honest assessment and declaration shocked Kelly to the core she stood up and moved to stand behind the geek as she logged into her own laptop and started typing away at her amazing speed.

“So whoever did this is what, better then you?”

The faint crying and murmurs went silent, all eyes and ears focusing on Polly and Kelly. Polly pushed her glasses up again before answering.

“Better no, but I’d be willing to say equally good in different areas.”

Kelly nodded in understanding, recognising just how important Polly’s admission really was.

“So what were you able to find, before all this…”

“Well our new students are Annabelle Lealla Fritton; aged sixteen. Date of birth January 17th, five foot nine, brown hair, brown eyes, and fifty two kilograms. Good student; received nine A’s and two B’s for her GCSE’s, and Amelia Laura Fritton; ages fourteen…just, her birthday was August 31st, five foot four, brown hair, brown eyes, and forty five kilograms. She has a bit of a chequered history, she’s seems to be barely passing her academic courses while acing the arts. They both started at Cheltenham as first years, and that’s it.”

Polly rattled off the short list for each girl, before turning slightly in her seat to meet Kelly’s questioning gaze.

“What do you mean that’s it?”

“I mean that was as far as Jennifer and Patricia got before they triggered whatever alert was built into Cheltenham’s systems.”

“And what about you, did your search algorithm turn up anything else?”

“Oh yes, I found lots of records. Medical files, admission forms, everything that gives a person an identity on the net all there for the both of them.”  
Polly’s tone has a slight hint of exasperation and Kelly found herself frowning not quiet understanding what the problem could be, she didn’t voice her question but knew that

Polly got the message when the geek took off her glasses and began rubbing the bridge of her nose.

“The thing is that while all the records are out there, everything in them is scattered all over the web.”  
Polly clicked on something with her laptop before turning the screen slightly in Kelly’s direction; her glasses went back on as she launched into an explanation.

“The information in each record is still there, but whatever trigger was used to launch the attack on Jennifer and Patricia also scrambled and encoded the data in every record. I could crack the code but it’s going to take some time.”

“How much time are we talking about Polly, there isn’t any point in doing this unnecessarily.”

“A week, if I don’t have to eat or sleep, two if I do at the least. There seems to be a cipher system at work that I am sure of. Each record if keyed to respond to a cipher hidden in another record, the only problem is that there is no indication of what order they may be in or even what the initial cipher would be. It’ll take me less time once I get that first cipher cracked but without it we’re stuck, sorry Kel.”

Kelly mused silently for a minute trying to place pieces of a puzzle together,

“You think one of these Fritton girls is responsible for this?”

“I doubt it, I checked throughout the Cheltenham register and the trigger would have gone off regardless of whose record we tried to access. I cross referenced online other known Cheltenham students and came up with the same results, I can’t even tell you whether this was done by anyone at Cheltenham or if an outsider was just testing out a new security system.”

“Ok, shelve the research for now; we’ll have to get creative. I’ll let Miss Fritton know what we’ve found, but keep working on this no rush obviously. But someone, somewhere went to a lot of trouble to hide what’s been going over at Cheltenham I want to know who and why, so feel free to work on it in your free time. I can see your looking forward to the challenge yeah?”

Polly grinned and nodded, before handing a print out about the two Fritton girls over for Kelly to give to Miss Fritton. Kelly stood up and moved over to the where the two younger geeks sat having finally started to calm down.

“No worries girls get me a list and I’ll have Flash arrange to pick up some new equipment for you, yeah.”

The soft nod from Jennifer who still sat curled up into Chelsea’s lap and the tiny quiet ‘thanks Kel’ from Patricia was enough of an acknowledgement and Kelly turned and left the dorm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~****/****\\****~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	2. Fritton Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arrival

 

The drive, from Cheltenham had passed in complete silence. Carnaby was quietly fuming in the driver’s seat while pretending everything was normal. Annabelle was next to him, partially cowering but mostly fretting about where they were going and what was going to happen. Amelia sat hunched in the back, scowl firmly in place sneering at the world neither of which seemed to be hindered by the black eye or the split lip. 

The longer the drive seemed to take the more tension worked its way into Annabelle’s already taught frame, as she tried to subtly cradle her cracked ribs without drawing attention to the fact that every movement of the vehicle caused them to ache. Amelia however was purposely flexing the splinted fingers of her right hand allowing the sting to ease some of her frustration, her knee however was kept still despite the desperate need to straighten it and relieve the pressure the brace was causing. 

Before long the narrow country roads seemed to widen slightly and the dense tree line dropped away, eventually giving way to what seemed to be a playing field, though it hardly qualified with a smoking burnt out car left close to one of the goal posts. The panicked look on Annabelle’s face as she turned to face Carnaby was hilarious and actually turned Amelia’s perpetual sneer into a smirk. The road continued on again and the treeline seemed to crowd in once more, shading and hiding the road from prying eyes.

Eventually a dilapidated sign appeared, weathered and old and Amelia’s smirk turned into an actual smile at the sight. St. Trinian’s School, for Young Ladies. Below that in much smaller writing; Principle Miss Fritton although someone had crossed out the last two letters in principle and replaced them with al instead. What seemed to catch Annabelle’s eye and nearly caused her to have a heart attack was the shrunken head on a pike to the left of the sign, it had a rather large kitchen knife rammed through the top. 

Carnaby turned at that moment obviously pleased by Annabelle’s increased tension; Amelia quickly wiped the smile off her face and replaced it once more with her sneer, letting his eyes meet her gaze in the rear view mirror. Wouldn’t do to let him know his intimidation tactic’s had failed on his youngest daughter mainly due to the fact that he would punish Annabelle out of spite. Amelia slumped further down in her seat letting the simmering rage burn through her.

Eventually the road opened up once again, this time into a run-down crossroads, before opening up even further and finally revealing what had once been a set of imposing gates. Now however the wrought iron looked old and the paint gave way here and there to rust. Through those gates the road widened even further into a large drive, framing the early 18th century building to perfection. The biggest surprise however was how completely empty the entire place seemed there didn’t appear to be a single girl anywhere in sight.

The rolls came to abrupt stop at the entrance and Carnaby began getting out of the care, Annabelle followed trying not to wince as she opened the door and shifted out of the seat, smoothing her perfect uniform as she stood. Amelia almost threw the door open in comparison, pulling herself out using the roof to avoid putting strain through her damaged knee. Annabelle quickly came over to help her stand, but backed away once Amelia had her feet under her knowing instinctively that Amelia’s rage was omnidirectional in times of vulnerability. 

Carnaby walked past the two girls as though they were not even there, moving straight for the boot of the rolls, opening it he reluctantly took, the heavy cases that held both of the girl’s clothing then stood back and waited for them to take the rest. Annabelle slipped her bag over her shoulder before taking Amelia’s as well. All that Amelia was left with was the small laptop bags and their hockey sticks, which she slipped over her own shoulder quickly at the look of contempt from Carnaby. He didn’t even allow her to step back before he slammed the boot closed and strode off towards the doors, leaving Annabelle and Amelia to catch up.

As they passed through the first stone columns Annabelle seemed to finally find her nerve to speak.

“This is creepy daddy, where is everybody?”

“I’m sure their all hard at work darling,”

Only Carnaby could make an endearment sound like an insult. Before his barely concealed attempt at placation was finished however an almighty crash sounded directly behind then, Annabelle almost jumped out of her skin in surprise at the fallen desk that had obviously been chucked out of a window. The fluttering of paper suggested that it had most likely been in use at the time. Annabelle’s eye’s widened even further as she spun round to again to Carnaby, who showed no sign of reassuring the nervous girl.

“Come on,”

He strolled away through the doors without a second glance, Amelia began walking slowly forwards, letting her free hand touch Annabelle as she passed. The older girl seemed to take strength from the contact and began walking again until they stepped through the doorway. Carnaby had obviously decided he would play for an audience and began spouting even more unwelcome platitudes.

“I always dreamt that one day you would come to St. Trinian’s, can’t think why we didn’t make the move earlier.”

Amelia watched as Annabelle began to speak, jumping in at the last second to cut the older girl off with her usual snark and sneer firmly in place.

“Because you said it was a young offender’s institution masquerading as a school,”

The glare he sent Amelia’s way could have pealed paint off walls, but was carefully hidden behind his over the top aviator sunglasses.

“Did I, huh?”

His dismissal was forced through gritted teeth as he strode away; Annabelle sent a worried look her way as she too entered the second set of doors leading to the main reception area. For a brief instant, Annabelle appeared to let her inner snob override her fear as she did a credibly impression of Amelia’s sneer towards the battered decorations. Amelia was hiding her smile with a smirk at the large Perspex box nearly filled with weapons of all kinds from guns to chains and knives. She was positive she even spotted a grenade or two.

Annabelle paused at the half mangled suit of armour with a bunny costume face replacing the missing head.

“This is so unbelievably low rent.”

Carnaby chose to ignore her however and kept moving towards the reception desk, the girl behind the desk was totally oblivious to their presence her music so loud through her headphones that it was easy to hear from across the room.

“Good afternoon,”

Carnaby tried to get the girls attention but went completely ignored; in a fit of vexation he slammed his hand on the conveniently placed bell, before reaching out and turning the mp3 player off, startling the girl back into awareness.

“We’re here to see Miss Fritton.”

Carnaby voice was brimming with irritation, and for the first time that day both young girls were glad they would be staying at St. Trinian’s and he would be leaving.

“You’re not from t’inland revenue are ya?”

The girl’s voice was brash and Amelia rolled her eyes at the total cliché she appeared to present, though it looked as though her blunt delivery caught Carnaby on the wrong foot.

“No. I’m er… Camilla’s younger brother,” 

He managed to cover it up however by turning on the sleazy charm offensive, taking his hat from his head, glasses having already been stored away for later.

“Ohh… you’ll have to forgive me. My brain don’t kick in till Wednesday’s when I’ve been out caning it all weekend. You know what I mean.”

The last bit was directed at Annabelle, who looked mildly affronted at the suggestion. Amelia snorted at the thought positive Annabelle didn’t even know what caning it meant let alone took any part in something of that sort. The receptionist quickly moved on however leaning down to speak into the public address system.

“Miss Fritton, your bru’va is ‘ear to cya.”

And unknown voice replies, and although it sounded tinny it was obvious to pick out the familiar accent.

_“I can’t understand a word you’re saying.” ___

__Annabelle was wandering around; her interest in the conversation about as high as Amelia’s own only a freedom of mobility separated the two. Both girls had put their bags down beside the case Carnaby placed before the reception desk. From her spot by the large fireplace which she was using to prop herself up against Amelia watched Annabelle as the older girl eyed up a display of shrunken heads._ _

__“I said, your bruther is ‘ear to cee ya,”_ _

__Amelia smirked at the singsong ending as if that would somehow translate the terribly mangled English. She also carefully watched as Annabelle peered up the grand stair case, the strange look that came to her face had Amelia pulling herself upright and stepping slowing making her way over. Amelia reached the archway just as Carnaby’s phone rang; he answered it immediately with a terse ‘Carnaby Fritton’ before being drawn into conversation._ _

__“No, no, no listen to me very carefully. Why would I buy a picture form someone of your dubious reputation?”_ _

__The smarmy strident tone had Amelia gritting her teeth, as she leaned against the pillar. Luckily the conversation was cut short by the sound of laughter from the stairs followed by the same woman’s voice who answered the receptionist only without the tinny sound._ _

__“That’s what you do, isn’t in, Carnaby?”_ _

__The look on Carnaby’s face was priceless, and Amelia forced herself to keep smirking instead of the smile she so desperately wanted to show._ _

__“I’ll get back to you Barry.”_ _

__Carnaby hung up the phone; his lips pursed in frustration then turned and made his way through the arch past both girls before stopping at the base of the stair case just as the woman reached the last set of steps._ _

__“Hello, Camilla.”_ _

__Annabelle’s eyes met Amelia’s in surprise; this was the aunt they had never met? The headmistress of this school, although when you took the chance to look at Carnaby and Camilla is was clear to see the resemblance. As Carnaby spoke the small terrier that Camilla seemed to be holding snarled causing Camilla to reprimand it as she began to take the  
last few steps to the reception area._ _

__“Mr Darcy, stop that at once. Go to your happy place.”_ _

__Amazingly enough, the little dog made an appeasing noise and appeared to do just that._ _

__“Carnaby Fritton. Oh I haven’t heard a word from you in over fifteen years.”_ _

__“I sent flowers,”_ _

__Carnaby interjected, causing Annabelle and Amelia to meet eyes, neither of which had a clue about what was being discussed._ _

__“A wreath… for mummy’s funeral,”_ _

__Camilla reached the bottom step and walked straight past Carnaby towards the reception area, where Annabelle stood in plain view. On spotting the older girl Camilla exclaimed aloud,_ _

__“Oh, you must be my lully, lully niece Annabelle.”_ _

__As she stepped through the archway Camilla finally noticed Amelia leaning against the column, arms crossed defensively._ _

__“And who is this, another Fritton I’m sure.”_ _

__“Amelia, my youngest”_ _

__Carnaby provided, though it was hard to dismiss the reluctance to claim her as such. Placing Mr Darcy down Camilla moved over towards the sofa in front of the fireplace where Amelia had stood, she checking under the seat cushion._ _

__“You’re all clear.”_ _

__Her words were followed through by her actions as Camilla took the seat and patted the adjacent cushion for Annabelle. She didn’t make any move to offer Amelia a seat, not that the younger girl would have taken one either way. The long car journey had left her knee throbbing and she was almost certain that sitting down now would mean she wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon. Briefly she almost wished she had listened to Annabelle and smuggled the crutch with her. Annabelle made her way over, the very image of a serious young lady the complete opposite of who Amelia knew she really was. Taking the indicated seat Annabelle refused to show any sign of weakness when the sound from a whoopee cushion was set off._ _

__Camilla began chuckling and Amelia snickered under breath, before the sharp reprimand in Carnaby’s eyes caught her attention and she instantly schooled her features into bored indifference._ _

__“Oh. So… your father’s PA tells me you’re joining us from Cheltenham Ladies’ College. For the life of me, I can’t understand why he sent you there.”_ _

__Camilla placed her hands on Annabelle’s knee, she was obviously a very open person and the complete opposite of Carnaby who wouldn’t know affection if it snuck up and bit him. Carnaby himself had taken a seat on the sofa facing his sister and Annabelle._ _

__“Yes, I was an utter fool to be taken in by the excellent teaching standards and their consistently high performance in league tables.”_ _

__Carnaby was back in full pompous mode, his voice filled with its usual condescension._ _

__“In my experience, the teachers are insufferable snobs, and the girls are all shits! Not to worry, my dear. Here pupil and teacher live in blissful harmony.”_ _

__Amelia couldn’t help the eye roll, at the obvious lie that Camilla was spouting. If the falling desk table was anything to go by then most likely the exact opposite was the real case. By the look on Annabelle’s face Amelia knew she wasn’t reassured either._ _

__“Why don’t we head to my office and sort out all that nasty paper work.”_ _

__Camilla stood then, pulling Annabelle to her feet as well before moving towards where Amelia still stood. Camilla offered a hand out to the younger girl, who looked at it in confusion before meeting the woman’s gaze._ _

__“Well come along then girlies, let’s make for my office.”_ _

__Camilla didn’t pull the hand away; she seemed to sense that the Amelia was honestly confused. Instead Camilla leaned in and using the hand gave Amelia a friendly squeeze to the shoulder before leading the way out of the room. Annabelle followed behind Camilla like a lost puppy and Amelia carefully bringing up the rear, following Annabelle and Camilla. She had just cleared the archway when Carnaby caught up with her, the sharp clout to the back of the head as he strode past, left her stumbling and Amelia had to catch her balance on the banister of the staircase._ _

__The jolt sent a shock a pain through her injured knee and the whimper that escaped had Annabelle turning. She must have caught on to the tension Carnaby gave off as he kept moving past her, Annabelle took a minute to come back for Amelia and let the younger girl loop her splinted hand through the crook of Annabelle’s arm offering some support and balance as the two continued walking. Annabelle kept giving Amelia worried looks that the younger girl was tempted to slap off her face. In all honesty however Amelia was as white as a ghost the pain in her leg almost had her to the point of passing out so for once she allowed Annabelle to guide her through the open doorway to what was obviously Camilla’s office._ _

__The two girls circumnavigated Carnaby by using one of the various tables around the room, before making their way to the window seats, Annabelle helping Amelia to get comfortable._ _

__“One moment please, while I get Beverly to rustle up that paper work.”_ _

__With that Camilla left the room again and Annabelle took the opportunity to search through Amelia’s blazer pocket for the bottle of pain pills she knew would be there. Carefully and silently Annabelle fished one out handing it to Amelia who swallowed the pill sans water, then thinking it over shook out another two handed one over to Amelia and then took the other herself. Slipping the pill bottle back into her own blazer, Amelia shared a look of gratitude that was cut short by a horrific scream that cut across what had been the complete silence of the school._ _

__The screaming seemed to be coming from a girl as she was dragged behind a tractor by her feet while another girl in a straw hat drove said tractor around in front of the window of Camilla’s office. The brave front Annabelle had managed crumbled at the sight and Amelia could only sigh, the pain pills were kicking in and the soft fuzzy feeling began replacing the lancing pain._ _

__“Daddy… Daddy, you can’t expect us to stay here. It’s like Hogwarts for pikeys.”_ _

__“It’s a little rough around the edges darling, but that’s part of the fun of the place.”_ _

__Carnaby in typical fashion brushed aside any concerns from his eldest daughter, and completely ignored his youngest, even though at that moment in time the young girl looked ready to be sick. The door to the office opened and Camilla entered humming to herself, a slip of paper in her hands. Shutting the door behind her Camilla moved towards where Carnaby stood at a nearby table._ _

__“Here is a breakdown of the school fees.”_ _

__Placing the slip on the table Camilla moved away to the small collection of drinks on the mantle as Carnaby fished out his glasses and slipped them on._ _

__“Whisky?”_ _

__Camilla’s offer went ignored as Carnaby interrupted,_ _

__“There seems to be some kind of mistake.”_ _

__His attempt at brushing it aside went ignored by Camilla as she continued to pour Two Whiskey’s before speaking again._ _

__“The Bursar never makes mistakes about money, unless it’s for tax purposes.”_ _

__Carnaby still thought he could wheedle out of the fees,_ _

__“But what about… a family discount?”_ _

__The sharp look Camilla gave Carnaby was enough to cut through what he might have continued to say. Annabelle had sat down next to Amelia and the younger girl was leaning into her shoulder for support._ _

__“Family discount! You discounted family years ago Carnaby Fritton, when you ruined Great Aunt Millicent with you hair-brained schemes and swizz swindles!”_ _

__“I’ve done nothing to feel guilty about.”_ _

__Carnaby’s claim had Amelia burying her face against Annabelle’s blazer, the older girl reaching up and brushing the short choppy hair from the younger girls face. Camilla’s cry of exasperation had Amelia looking back up at the woman, who was staring over in the two girl’s direction._ _

__“Your father has a short memory masquerading as a clear conscience. The fees are four thousand, each.”_ _

__“Fifteen hundred,”_ _

__Carnaby bargained, surprisingly enough Camilla had obviously been expecting this as she came back in rapid fire._ _

__“Three thousand take it or leave it.”_ _

__“Let’s call it two thousand, cash.”_ _

__“Two thousand five hundred,”_ _

__“Two and a quarter,”_ _

__“Two- three,”_ _

__“Two- three, done”_ _

__Annabelle looked on in horror, and Amelia was stuck somewhere between irritation and awe. They had affectedly been bargained over like grade ‘A’ beef, the deal was sealed over the sharing of whisky and Annabelle whimpered almost silently in response, another reason to be glad they wouldn’t be going home with Carnaby._ _

__After the drink was shared Carnaby and Camilla set about finalising all the paperwork, while Annabelle and Amelia were left alone to process the inevitable. All too quickly Carnaby was ready to leave; Annabelle went with him out into the hallway still pleading to go home, Amelia stayed where she was quite comfortable and mildly loopy from the pain medication finally working fully._ _

__“Been in the wars there girlie,”_ _

__Amelia’s thoughts were interrupted by the aunt she had only just met._ _

__“Yes Miss,”_ _

__Amelia tried to keep her usual surliness out of her voice but couldn’t honestly tell whether it worked or not, her brain was still too fuzzy to care. Camilla took a seat next to Amelia, as from somewhere a car horn tooted. Must be Carnaby pulling off, Annabelle having obviously failed to persuade him, to let the two girls go home._ _

__“Well it seems I know about your sister but not much was said about you dearie.”_ _

__“Not much to say,”_ _

__The sneer was definitely in place that time and Amelia was too sore to bother reining it in._ _

__“That leg looks to be paining you something fierce; you didn’t have crutches before now?”_ _

__“Well yeah, but I wasn’t allowed to bring them. Classed as school property so I had to give them back,”_ _

__“Well until we can find you some, how about you use this.”_ _

__With that Camilla reached over and lifted a carved wooden cane from a nearby rack, as she leaned over Amelia couldn’t supress the flinch before taking the cane in hand, eyes meeting her aunts for only the second time, a tiny smile finding its way onto her lips._ _

__“Thanks Miss,”_ _

__The thank you was quiet and Camilla almost missed it, reaching out and squeezing Amelia shoulder gentle once again._ _

__“Well come on then girlie, let’s get you moving.”_ _

__Camilla stood and allowed Amelia to stand on her own, letting her splinted fingers curve around the handle of the cane and taking the weight off her left. It left her healing hand aching but the relief from her leg was instantaneous, though part of that could just be the pain medication._ _

__Amelia followed Camilla, though she should really start calling her aunt Camilla back out of the office and towards the reception area again. Beverly the receptionist was once again listening to her music as Camilla stopped and turned once again to face Amelia._ _

__“Now girlie, if you’ll just wait here for your sister the Head girl will be along shortly to show you to the dorms. Don’t worry about your bags someone will bring them up for you. Now do take care.”_ _

__With that as quickly as Aunt Camilla had arrived she was gone, it surprised Amelia how strongly she felt the woman’s absence. Finding that she actually believed what aunt Camilla had said didn’t stop Amelia from slipping the laptop bags back over her shoulder, trust or not, no one got between her and her laptop she included Annabelle’s because that was what sisters were meant to do._ _


	3. Breached

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introductions

“Outer perimeter has been breached; our guests should be at the main gates any minute.”

Polly’s voice echoed around the command centre, which more often than not doubled at the ICT labs on the ground floor. Kelly readjusted the headset before speaking aloud to the girls stationed in the room and others spread around the school connected via their own headsets.

“All right girls, everyone to their places. Remember to keep to the plan and can someone check up on Tabitha, make sure she doesn’t start up before I give the signal.”

Kelly stood in the command centre, hands on hips as she watched the various monitor’s sitting side by side, each and every one showing a different image. The approach to the school, reception even Miss Fritton’s office all laid out ready.

“On it Kel,”

One of the younger girls said before disappearing out of the room.

“The gates have been breached, T-minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 show time,”

Polly’s count down was in perfect time with the Rolls Royce pulling to a stop at the school entrance.

“Seconds years to their places, remember to stay out of sight.”

The command was given and the remaining second years filed out of the room to take position on the main stair case, just out of sight. On one of the monitor’s Kelly watched as a man that looked remarkably like Miss Fritton, exited the car followed by what must have been Annabelle. Kelly withheld the groan at the sight of the girl, who looked so straight laced she put even the geekiest geeks to shame.

The younger girl climbed out of the back of the car using the roof as leverage, Kelly’s first look at Amelia had her revaluating the Fritton girl’s sudden relocation. The younger teen looked like she’d been a few rounds with a pro wrestler; the black eye was a deep purple shade suggesting it was very fresh while the split lip looked barely healed and ready to reopen at any time.

The Fritton trio gathered their bags and entered the main doors of the building, but not before being caught off guard by a falling desk and papers.

“Nice touch, get me sound for the hallway and reception”

Polly didn’t bother answering she just did what she was asked; the sound came to life just as Carnaby was speaking,

_‘…don’t know why you didn’t make the move earlier’_

_Because you said it was a young offenders institute masquerading as a school.’_

Kelly felt her eyes narrow to glare at the small image of Carnaby; she had already assessed his character and found him to be little more than a bottom feeding, pompous, jackass with a highly overinflated ego. She was however impressed by the world class sneer from the younger Fritton, the look of distain on the Annabelle’s face as she spotted ‘Bunny Knight’ as the first years had taken to calling was disappointing.

_'This is so unbelievably low rent.’_

The condescension was ignored for the moment as Kelly was focused again on the younger girl who was eyeing the confiscated weapon box with amusement.

“We’re got a live one here Polly, we’ll need to keep a watch on that one.”

Kelly murmured aloud reaching forwards slightly to lean on the back of Polly’s chair, the two girls watched as Miss Fritton’s brother tried to get Bev’s attention and finally as Annabelle wandered away towards the staircase.

“Alright second years on my mark……… go!"

Just as the girl peered up the stairway, Kelly’s carefully timed command had the girl looking up into the looming faces all looking down at her from the double stairway. The timing worked perfectly as Carnaby’s phone rang catching Annabelle’s attention and the girls who had been waiting for Kelly’s second signal melted back out of sight. The image was disconcerting and they used it to mess with new girls to great success.

“We have Miss Fritton live in 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1”

Polly counted down to Camilla’s, the conversation between their headmistress and her brother didn’t take long, mostly as Camilla brushed aside Carnaby’s attempt to gain favour and instead focused on Annabelle. Both Kelly and Polly watched as the small group chatted, smiling at the unexpected whoopee cushion caught the elder Fritton girl by surprise; right down to the confused look the younger Fritton gave Camilla’s offered hand.

Kelly swore loudly when Carnaby’s smacked the younger girl in the head and sent her stumbling, the concerned look from Annabelle who had to go and help Amelia continue to Miss Fritton’s office. Amelia looked grey, as though she would either pass out or throw up at any moment. Biting back the urge to hunt Carnaby Fritton down and beat the living daylights out of him, Kelly forced herself to continue to focus.

As the group of Fritton’s entered the office, Kelly spoke down the headset,

“Ok Tabitha you are a go on my signal,”

“On it Kel,”

Kelly barely made out over the roar of the tractor starting up and the hushed protest of the victim being forced into place. Jessica had been caught with the missing C4 late last night and the twin’s had forgone the piñata punishment when Kelly suggested a way to aid their effort to get under the skins of the new arrivals. Tabitha had traded in the offered reward for capturing the first year, to be able to drive the tractor.

While this was going on Kelly and Polly watched the monitor that showed Miss Fritton’s office, both of them intrigued as Annabelle retrieved some type of pills before forcing two on Amelia and taking one herself.

“Now Tabitha,”

Kelly gave the signal and almost immediately had to pull the headset away from her face as the roar of the tractor was drowned out by the piercing shriek’s and screams from Jessica as she was pulled behind the tractor out over the grounds and into plane view of Miss Fritton’s office.

_‘Daddy…Daddy, you can’t expect us to stay here. It’s like Hogwarts for pikeys.’_

Polly snorted under her breath and had Kelly raising an eyebrow in response.

“What? It’s true”

The red haired geek met Kelly’s gaze briefly before both girls returned their attention to the screens. They watched as Camilla and Carnaby bartered over fees before Carnaby finished signing the standard contract’s for both girls.

“Alright, everyone to their places, remember to get Emma in position.”

Carnaby left the office with Annabelle on his heals still trying to get the bastard to change his mind, Kelly watched as Miss Fritton interacted with the younger girl Amelia before  
the headmistress handed the girl a cane to help walk with. Neither Kelly nor Polly missed the flinch the younger Fritton failed to hide or the strange look on her abused face.

“Ok Polly, I’m heading into position now, keep the link open I want to hear what they’re saying.”

Polly nodded, leaving to Kelly to slip out of the room and head to the side corridor just off and behind the main stair case. She listened as Miss Fritton led Amelia back to the hall and knew that Camilla was talking to her when she arranged for the girls luggage to be taken up to the dorm. Kelly didn’t actually need the headset to hear the two girls as they moved closer to the stair case, so she decided to forgo and trusted Polly to oversee the last part of the plan.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~****/****\\****~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The main door opened again and a dejected Annabelle made her way back inside, she immediately picked the two small bags up again slipping one over her shoulder.

“You can leave them, Auntie Camilla mentioned someone would come and show us to the dorm, and have our things taken up.”

Annabelle only looked at Amelia’s own disregard for that reassurance before sighing.

“He wouldn’t listen; I don’t understand why he’s being like this.”

“Honestly Annabelle I don’t understand why your being like this, do you really want to be stuck at home with Carnaby? You remember how brilliant that usually is; with how angry he is right now it’s only bound to be worse, just be grateful. I know I am, here is better than home in my book.”

The two girls began making their way to the bottom of the staircase, to wait for the escort up the dorms.

“I just don’t understand why here, he always said he’d never let us come here even when we asked…”

“Of course he wouldn’t, this is meant as a punishment Annabelle. The more you fight it the more he wins, look I’m sorry about Cheltenham; but there was no way in hell I was letting them get away with jumping you. Not after the spectacular end to last year, a month in hospital wasn’t fun you know.”

Annabelle sighed turning to look at Amelia, finally noticing the cane.

“I know, if her father wasn’t so important she’d have been expelled not us. Nice accessory by the way.”

Annabelle nodded towards the cane, as Amelia used it to reach the display cabinet.

“Thanks, Auntie Camilla gave it to me.”

“It’s Auntie now? Since when”

“I don’t know, she’s nice and she doesn’t look through me like I’m not there. It’s refreshing, there’s only so long being looked at like your pond scum doesn’t get on your nerves.”

The two girls shared a sad smile; Amelia had always thought Carnaby had sent her and Annabelle to Cheltenham because of the sheer animosity between them and St. Trinian’s. The two girls may not have ever attended their aunt’s school until now but they were Fritton’s. If you can’t beat the crap out of the rival school, beating the crap out of the headmistress’s nieces for that rival school will do just fine.

Annabelle with her once adventurous nature was left a meek shell having been mentally and emotionally beaten long before Cheltenham by Carnaby’s own brand of paternal abhorrence; she had withered beneath the constant stream of abuse and torment. Amelia who knew that she was too strong willed to allow Carnaby to break her, had internalised her rage and lived in a world of perpetual anger. Any trust in adult’s had been shattered soon after she started at Cheltenham and saw how badly the teachers allowed Annabelle to be treated.

In all honesty the two girls had only ever had each other to rely on; Carnaby had always been a none-entity in either girl’s lives, no matter how Annabelle longed for his approval they both knew it wasn’t ever going to come. The only regard they made for Carnaby was to avoid him if he was drunk or angry or thought you looked at him funny. Avoiding him in general had been one of the first things Amelia had learned.

The silence stretched between Annabelle and Amelia as minutes seemed to tick by. Annabelle was patiently waiting at the foot of the stairs while Amelia wandered around the displays looking at the strange collection of objects in each. Suddenly the entire school seemed to tremble as though a heard of wildebeests was steadily growing closer. Amelia began move back towards Annabelle but decided to stop at the elegant scroll of the banister. The natural flow of the wood would provide protection if the hoard of girls descended all at once

The tension seemed to build as the rumbling grew closer, Amelia watched as Annabelle gazed up the stairway. As suddenly as it started the shaking stopped and a single girl with a teddy came skipping down the stair case as she sang to herself, Annabelle let out a sigh of relief but Amelia held her breath. If there was anything she knew about St. Trinian’s it was that they loved messing with your head, Annabelle needed to remember that if she was going to survive.

The sigh of relief was short lived as when Annabelle stepped forward to move closer towards Amelia every entrance came alive at once. Where the girls had been hiding Amelia didn’t know but the execution was masterful as the girls shouting and screaming as they buffeted Annabelle. Maybe naming them a hoard hadn’t been for off the mark. Strangely enough the growing number of girls never once touched Amelia, it was so well orchestrated that she was left smirking.

Of course Annabelle was left grimacing in pain as girl after girl smashed into her jarring her ribs, she was lucky that the wrapping Amelia had done for her was solid enough to give some support but she was sure to bruise even more. Finally the hoard seemed to dissipate, leaving Annabelle turned around and the bags knocked and kicked aside. As quiet descended once more a voice sounded from a nearby, an older girl stood leaning against an open doorway

"Your old man’s roller looks like it’s seem better days"

The voice while still young had an assured quality that Amelia recognised as coming from someone used to being in charge and able to complete at that level with little effort. The girl it belonged to was stunning, tall and slim her pencil skirt emphasised her shape. While the capped sleeved shirt left open at the top with the loose tie was brought together by the choker and neat perfectly maintained bob all leant weight to that assessment. Annabelle however, missed all of this as her natural reaction to defend Carnaby resurfaced and Amelia found her eyes rolling in exasperation

“No. It’s a classic. Daddy’s an expert on the finer things. He has an art gallery in Mayfair."

Amelia found herself sneering at the mention of said ‘art’ gallery Carnaby wouldn’t be able to appreciate art as more then pound sign’s if it could jump out and tap dance. Annabelle was art illiterate, but only in the sense that she hadn’t dared form her own opinions in order to avoid Carnaby’s wrath. The older girl began walking towards them, her impossibly long legs stalking across the floor with all the grace of a hunting cat stalking its prey though she seemed to be focused on Annabelle leaving Amelia time to evaluate and assess.

“I’m Annabelle… this is Amelia, we’re Miss Fritton’s niece’s”

Amelia only smirked as her sister continued to disregard the threat this girl obviously represented. The older girl finally reached where Annabelle was stood, Amelia was torn by the need to protect Annabelle and the desire to see what this girl could really do. Amelia recognised power and who had it, and this girl had it in spades.

“I’ll have someone come fetch your bags.”

The shear condescension on Annabelle’s face almost had Amelia reaching out to smack her, ‘know your place’ had been drummed into both girls since birth while Annabelle felt the need to test that in an unfamiliar, obviously hostile environment left her baffled.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t get your name.”

My GOD Annabelle must have a death wish, either that or the mixture of pain and pain medication had seriously warped her mind. Amelia stepped forwards drawing the older girl’s intense gaze for a split second, before her gaze flickered to the cane then back up to meet Annabelle full on.

“Kelly Jones, I’m Head Girl.”

Amelia didn’t know whether to congratulate herself for pegging the girl as in charge or strangle Annabelle for the scoff at the revelation. Although to be truthful the head girl didn’t remotely resemble the slobbering animalist bitch that had been hinted towards at Cheltenham so Annabelle’s disbelief at the mix-mashed imagery could have caused the started ‘really’ of disbelief but the once over with contempt left Amelia wondering if she wouldn’t wake up one day an only child.

Kelly Jones, Head Girl walked past Annabelle her eye meeting Amelia’s with a slight nod that Amelia found herself returning.

“Welcome to St. Trinian’s.”

The Head Girl began climbing the stairs with a sultry grace that Amelia found herself admiring. Following after Kelly Amelia hobbled up the stairs, a grimace across her face, the climb up the double staircase was torture and Amelia found herself out of breath and sweating slightly because of it. Annabelle was at her side instantly fussing but Amelia snarled in silent contempt at the display.

“You alright there Amelia…is it?”

Kelly must have noticed the trouble she was having and Amelia had to fight the urge to snarl at the head girl. Weakness was not to be tolerated, and being weak made you vulnerable something neither Amelia nor Annabelle could afford right now.

“Yeah, hurt’s is all.”

“Look, I was going to give you two a tour of the school before dinner. Your beds haven’t been set up yet but if you want you can use my room to rest and I’ll come get you before we eat.”

The genuine concern left Amelia uncertain, and searching for Annabelle’s opinion.

“Go and rest, and take these with you.”

Annabelle fished the pain pills out of her pocket and slipped them into Amelia’s before the younger girl could protest. Kelly was already snapping her fingers and as if by magic two young girls appeared. They didn’t look old enough to be anything but first years; each dressed as though they had put their cloths on in the dark then found a way to scuff every available surface of them.

“Janey, Lisa I need you to show Amelia here to my room. She’s going to rest before dinner, if I find out anyone has disturbed her before then there will be hell to pay am I clear?”

“Crystal Kel,”

With a nod the two first years came over to where Amelia stood leaning heavily on her cane, one last look towards Annabelle’s retreating form Amelia turned and let the first years lead her. Obviously more stairs were involved and by that time Amelia was almost ready to down the entire bottle of pain pills if it would just stop hurting. The room was obviously a double, with a tiny en-suit bathroom, designed for the head girl to have a little privacy; it had four separate locks and a bolt on the door that had Amelia smirking even if the smirk was a little unsteady.

“Could you girls do me a favour? I really need an icepack or something for my leg you think you could do that for me and I’ll let Kelly know how great you’ve been.”

Amelia could shelve her usual attitude, hoping that she had judged how much influence Kelly Jones had over the younger girls here. They looked at each other for a minute before silently coming to some sort of agreement. One left and Amelia wandered into the room, as she slipped the laptop bags from her shoulders she spotted the small sink and the private bathroom tucked away in one corner so grabbing a glass she opened to pill bottle and shook out two. Taking them felt better this time, sans water was okay in a pinch but they left a horrible taste in your mouth and irritated your throat.

“What’s that?”

The little voice at the door asked, pointed at the pill bottle, Amelia didn’t answer at first making her way to the bed and sitting down.

“You Janey or Lisa?”

“Janey, Lisa went to get your icepack.”

The little voce now had a name but Amelia could still tell the girl was curious.

“Vicodin. Pain medication, that is very strong which I shouldn’t be taking again so soon, but am going to anyway.”

“Why?”

Amelia thought about answering but settled for show and tell instead, she managed to pull her combat boots off and slip her out of her trousers without too much effort thankful she was wearing shorts underneath. Without the black fabric however the leg brace and the mangled mass of barely healed stiches and freshly blooming bruises was easy to see. The young girl gasped but didn’t back away as Amelia worked her way back onto the double bed and the pillows that seemed to be waiting for her. Grabbing a spare pillow she carefully worked it under her damaged right knee, once she had the knee propped she undid the leg brace. The constant rubbing and pressure against the healing skin could cause as much hurt as it prevented.

“What happened?”

Janey’s little voice was quiet and Amelia sneered at the thought she could only get one word out past the bubbling rage.

“Cheltenham,”

She spoke with almost a vicious snarl, as though it was a swear word that surpassed any other. So focused on the rage inside Amelia didn’t notice the look of admiration on the first years face, she obviously didn’t know about the group of girls waiting silently out of sight waiting to gain any advantage over the new girl. And so she wouldn’t have noticed the surprised looks passed between them as they processed this new piece of information. It didn’t take much longer for Lisa to reappear with a battered icepack and a quirky smile.

“Thanks Lisa, you too Janey I appreciate it.”

The first years nodded and exited the room, shutting the door behind them before taking up sentry positions either side. The gathering girls huffed in annoyance at obviously being denied before flouncing off, the two first years only shared a glance and a grin that would have made Kelly proud.

Amelia was left alone in the quiet room; the icepack seemed to help almost instantly taking the burning ache away. Spotting the light on the bedside table Amelia slipped it off, before settling down into the bed enjoying what was bound to be the last time this year she got to sleep in relative safety.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and please review =D  
> Anyone who know how to format text better eg, centre text, highligh, bold, italic and can explain it to a complete novice would earn much Kudo's.


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